Tears in Rain is based on the movie Blade Runner and Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Some reviews have labeled Tears in Rain as glorified fan fiction, while others have called it a rich complement. Either way, I’m the living proof that you don’t need to have watched the movie or read the classic sci-fi novel to enjoy Tears in Rain, so don’t let that deter you.

The book take place on Earth in 2109. The population is mainly divided between humans and replicants, lab-grown humans who are born with adult bodies to serve humans in the most undesirable jobs. The replicants are only committed to serve two years, after which they are free to spend the rest of their lives as they please. All remaining eight years of it. You see, replicants inexplicably die of the same disease when they reach ten years of age.

In order to provide for a healthy purpose in life, replicants are programmed with fake memories by writers appropriately called memorists. This becomes an important part of the plot, as rogue memorists appear to be involved in a huge supremacist conspiracy theory against replicants.

The book follows the story of Bruna Husky, a seemingly-30-year-old-but-really-only-6-year-old combat replicant who makes a living as a private detective. Bruna gets hired to solve the murder of a replicant, but finds herself involved in a web of replicant deaths, replicants who evidently all succumbed to the same murderous rage before committing suicide. The story is part detective story, part science fiction, and part existential crisis.

I have to admit, I really enjoyed the book but the ending left me disappointed. The book has such a wonderful build up, then in the last few pages the author tell you “who done it” and ties up loose ends (romantic, existential, or otherwise). It felt rushed and oversimplified.

But that’s not to say this is overall a negative review for the book. I really did enjoy the story up until the ending, especially the cast of complex characters. Bruna is a strong female lead who’s endearingly imperfect. She is a combat replicant so you know she was engineered to be fearless and forthcoming, but she is also crushed by the weight of her own falsified past and her limited lifespan. She is smart, daring, resources, and above all, she’s surprisingly human.

Superheroes. Zombies. Gripping. Action-packed adventure. Stories of overcoming personal and physical challenges. Cinematic-quality fight scenes. These are just some of the things you will find in Ex-Heroes: A Novel.

Released today, and published by Broadway Paperbacks, Ex-Heroes is Peter Clines‘ first novel. What a novel it is. Described by Ready Player One author Ernest Cline as “The Avengers meets The Walking Dead,” for this reader, this book was so much more.

Los Angeles has fallen to a mysterious plague, which rapidly spreads across the globe. At around the same time as the first reports of this mysterious illness start to surface, a group of humans begins to display some extraordinary abilities. In time, they find each other, and form a group tasked with saving what is left of humanity, protecting them in their film-studio-turned-fortress, the Mount.

If you enjoy a good superhero origin story, then Ex-Heroes is a novel for you. Interspersed with the present-day story of Stealth, Gorgon, Regenerator, Cerberus, Zzzap, and The Mighty Dragon’s quest of saving the remaining inhabitants of the City of Angels from the walking dead, are the origin stories of our heroes.

After a few “Now” chapters, Clines ties in the action with a “Then” chapter, which is an origin story told from the point of view of the hero in question. These stories also inform the reader as to how the hero became a member of this larger group of superheroes. Most importantly, these stories do what all origin stories are supposed to do. They inform the reader as to what motivates the hero in their daily life, why they’ve decided to be a superhero instead of a villain. Some of these origins can be considered questionable. I found one to be downright heartbreaking.

In a day when there is a lot of discussion about how women are treated in comics, I think many readers will find Stealth’s origin story to be very compelling. Clines finished this book in 2009, long before a lot of these debates truly started to take form. Clines sexualizes the female superheroes to a certain degree. Or, rather, I should say, these female superheroes use their sex-appeal to their advantage.

When I started to read how Clines treated his female heroes, I couldn’t help but think there would be many readers who would take issue with their overt sexualization. Then Stealth tells her origin story, and the reader is smacked with some very hard and real truths about what happens to women who are only seen for the way they look. It was abrupt. In an instant, I went from being slightly uncomfortable with certain aspects of these female superheroes, to having more empathy and care about this issue than any debate or discussion has been able to accomplish.

The pace of the action in Ex-Heroes is steady, giving the reader just enough movement and human story to keep them turning the pages. Then things get crazy. Action meant to be witnessed in the theater takes center stage. The entire book would make for an excellent movie, but the final clash between our heroes and ex-humans made my heart race in ways seldom accomplished by a book. The scene was vivid, allowing the reader to taste, smell, and hear all the bone-breaking blows, yet it isn’t bogged down by too many words.

More times than not, I find writers either use too many words to describe a fight scene, leaving me bored and wanting to skip to the end, or they are over before I blink my eyes. Clines created some real magic with the heart-pounding final showdown.

Clines managed something else rarely managed by movies, television, and books. He caused me to wince, and become slightly uncomfortable with some of the action. I stopped watching The Walking Dead because I was told it was gruesome, suspenseful, and contained a fair amount of horror. It failed to illicit those intended responses in me. Not since a couple handfuls of episodes of Nip/Tuck has something made me wriggle in the way accomplished by Ex-Heroes.

As thought-provoking and enthralling as Ex-Heroes is, it is also gruesome. It is not for the faint of heart, or those with a weak stomach. If I were to give a rating for this novel, I would say it is rated R for sex, profanity, and graphic violence. Mostly for profanity and graphic depictions of violence. Except for one comment made about sex which is rated R, the sex scenes would fall under the PG-13 category.

Other things the reader will enjoy are more geek-culture and pop-culture references than I can even begin to count. Aside from many mentions of some of our favorite television shows and movies, we have humorous stories of how certain celebrities lost their lives. These stories, plus other comedic beats, are really necessary to break up some the more macabre parts of Ex-Heroes.

Finally, an original zombie-virus origin story. At first, especially because of a scientific inaccuracy, I was worried that as much I was enjoying the story, this one issue would overshadow my final impressions of the book. I have a very difficult time with suspension of disbelief. I have greater difficulty when a well-known myth continues to be repeated as fact. Especially when it is a character with a background in either science or medicine who does this. But, at the final hour, things get turned on their head, and all is forgiven.

Creative zombie story, with in-depth characters, and filled with humor, action, and gruesome fight scenes, Ex-Heroes is a novel that will take you on wild and heart-warming ride.

Later today, I’ll be sitting down with Peter Clines to discuss Ex-Heores, and more, for my Geeky Pleasures Radio Show. It will air on Friday, March 1, 2013, at 7 PM PST/ 10 PM EST on The Look 24/7. It will be available for download on Monday on iTunes and Geeky Pleasures.

I also have one signed copy of Ex-Heroes to give away.

To enter, leave a comment letting me know your favorite superhero origin story, or your favorite zombie movie, television show, comic, or book. Only one comment per person. Residents of Canada and the United States only.

When leaving a comment, please use a valid email address so that I can notify the winner. If you fail to enter your email address, your comment will not be counted.

Giveaway closes Tuesday, March 5, 2013 at 11:59 PM PST. At that time, I’ll use a random number generator to choose the winner. The winner will be notified by email on March 6, 2013. The winner will have 48 hours to reply to the email. If the winner does not respond, then I’ll choose another winner. After I receive a response from the winner, the winner will be announced on GeekMom.

If it has been awhile since you’ve read the YA series Seed Trilogy by Pamela Sargent, or if you are unfamiliar with this series, now would be the time to start reading it. Published by Tor Teen Paperback, the reprint of Farseed was released in trade paperback for the first time on January 8, 2013. It is the coming of age story of two teenage girls whose lives crash together under very violent circumstances.

Farseed is the second book in the Seed Trilogy series. Earthseed – the first book in the series — has been optioned by Paramount Pictures.

The events in Farseed take place a little more than 20 years after the events in Earthseed. Ship has seeded Home. Now, Ship’s children have children of their own. History appears to be in danger of repeating itself. The conflict between Zoheret and Ho begins anew because of events surrounding the main protagonists of the story: their 16-year-old daughters.

Farseed is divided into four parts. The first part focuses on Ho’s 16-year-old daughter, Nuy. The second part focuses on Zoheret’s 16-year-old daughter, Leila. Nuy’s and Leila’s lives clash and become intertwined in the third part, with resolution in the very short final part.

Nuy and Leila are very different people.

Nuy grew up with a lot of abuse. This abuse was not only at the hands of her father, Ho, but also at the hands of her mate, Belen, and at the hands of her settlement in general. Her father is mentally insane. Her mate is physically abusive. The people of her settlement fear and distrust her because of her differences. As a result, her thoughts and internal conflicts are very dynamic.

On the other hand, Leila grew up in a positive environment. Her biggest worries involve whether or not she will have offspring before she is 20 like the majority of the settlement — that is, if she’ll have offspring — and boy troubles. She has never witnessed any major conflict, never mind witnessing any real disagreement between people. She has never had to worry about food or shelter. She grew up in a society that, by its very nature, doesn’t lend well to the development of diversity, and is in danger not evolving socially because every one is too afraid to shake up the status quo. Now that they are no longer within the protective belly of Ship, they are too afraid to truly live. In fact, many of theme are hoping for the day that Ship realizes it was a mistake to leave them there, and returns for them. Her environment has grown stagnant.

She’s got a new book out, a collection of short stories called At the Mouth of the River of Bees, and I’d recommend you go buy it even if she weren’t a friend of mine. But since is a friend, I recommend you go buy two copies. Just a note of caution. This is fiction intended for adults. There’s adult language and adult situations. Three words: alien tentacle sex. You read that right. And it’s a story you’ll want to read, or as she put it, “Want is such a subjective term — and by want you mean find yourself unable not to.” She’s not wrong there. Continue Reading “Making the Unreal Real: An Interview With Kij Johnson” »

If you have yet to decide if purchasing Star Trek: The Next Generation Season One on Blu-ray is worth the expense, let me calmly tell you, You need to purchase it. NOW!

I pre-ordered it the week it was made available for pre-order. It arrived the day after its release. If there is a purchase that I’m more than happy to have made this year, Star Trek: The Next Generation Season One on Blu-ray is definitely on this list. Every single episode never failed to awe me with just how much detail is missing from the original release, which I also own.

Painstakingly, they rescanned all of the film, originally shot on 35mm, and enhanced the visuals. The results: eye candy. They also enhanced all of the audio, and remastered it for surround sound.

In remastering Season One, CBS made, what I think to be, some very smart choices. First, they did not replace any of the original special effects, or starships, with CGI. Instead, they redid all the video-created effects. All of the phaser fire, torpedo fire, “electrical” bursts, the transporter beam, the shields, the landscapes of the planets as viewed from orbit and their atmospheres, and more, are stunning. With the simple act of rescanning the film, the starships and starbases pop with amazing, previously missed, detail. The space creatures in Encounter at Farpoint, “God” in Justice, and the Crystalline Entity are now truly something to behold. This results in episodes that still feel like the original, but no longer look dated.

Talking on a cell phone is no big deal for kids. (Photo By Bridgit Goldman.)

I was visiting a friend from high school and we took a photo of ourselves on my ipod. Then I remembered that Bump app. We downloaded it and knocked our phones together so she could have a copy of the photo too. After grumbling about some tech issues with the app, we started giggling in disbelief. When we first met, beepers were the biggest technological marvel, the internet was something we heard college kids got, heck, the majority of my friends didn’t have a computer in their homes. Photos on a portable phone? We touch them to share? We’re living in a science fiction show! We then talked about how we wish we were born later so we could have dominated YouTube with all the stupid things we used to video tape (yes, analog VIDEO tape.) But what a world. Star Trek is happening around us.

I mentioned this on Facebook, and got a comment that Twitter reminded them of a Borg hive. Another comment was about watching their kids learn on an iPad, and texting to keep track of their teenagers. Here’s a cool little graphic about this topic on Nerd-Base.

In chatting with my family, my husband was quick to point out that we’ve come farther than Star Trek could imagine in many areas. He pointed to the bigger-than-a-bread-box computer on Kirk’s desk while recording his daily log. But my husband did admit that video conferences in today’s world are pretty amazing. It used to be these huge screens with a hi-tech person guiding the whole process. Now we can see anyone’s face on their hand-held device. (Of course there is our obvious lack of interstellar space travel that Star Trek has…)

My children have grown up in this world, and yet they also see the marvels. My son mentioned there is an episode in The Universe that compares real technology to science fiction hopes. He said that communication today is more advanced than any Star Trek episode. My daughter mentioned that she always imagines memory storage devices are like a Mary Poppins bag because they can hold so much in such a tiny space.

What about you? Look around. What makes you feel like you’re living in someone else’s imagination of the future?

Fans of Star Trek, and geeks in general, are very familiar with the battle of Kirk versus Picard. In honor of Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s 25th anniversary on September 28, 2012, let’s pit three additional Star Trek: The Original Series senior officers against three Star Trek: The Next Generation senior officers. Who wins and why?

Kirk versus Picard
I’ll probably be called a cheater for this one, but I have never been able to choose. To do so would be like picking a favorite child. I simply do not have one. They are both nerds — though the fact that Kirk is highly intellectual often gets overshadowed by the fact he is having sex with every female alien he encounters, and spends a lot of time talking with his fists. But when Kirk isn’t busy participating “cowboy diplomacy,” he is not only intellectual, but sensitive. Picard is every bit as forceful as Kirk, however he is ever the eloquent diplomat. They were men representing two different eras, both equally effective for their time.

Spock versus Data
Yet again, you can call me a cheater because I cannot choose. That would be like asking which part of my personality I love more. I love each aspect of myself equally. Like Spock, I, too, have emotions. However, they are not readily accessible. When the emotions do appear, I never know what to do them. I feel like I’m malfunctioning. Up until the character of Data, I, like Spock, had a really difficult time accepting the human part of me. Then Data showed me that it is okay to both not understand humans — their emotions, their humor, be driven by logic, and more — but still want to strive towards humanity.

Star Trek fans all have their favorite episodes. Some times, they will list their favorite episodes by series. Other times, they list them in context of the entire franchise.

Picking favorite episodes can be very difficult. There are so many, the majority of which tackle some very important and controversial issues. Others are just plain old fun. In honor of Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s 25th anniversary, here is my list of top five favorite episodes from Star Trek: The Next Generation and why. The episode ranked second, third, and fourth, could easily be interchangeable.

Number five:Final Mission
Episode no.: Season 4 Episode 9
Original air date: December 2, 1990

In this episode, Wesley Crusher is preparing to leave for Starfleet Academy. Before he leaves, Captain Picard asks Wesley to accompany him on one final mission. The mining shuttle goes down on a desert planet, along with Captain Dirgo, the mining shuttle’s captain. Captain Picard becomes gravely injured. The arrogant Captain Dirgo dies, leaving Wesley to save Captain Picard’s life, while the Enterprise is busy dealing with a different crisis.

This episode may not be the meatiest episode. But it is one of my favorite episodes because it nicely illustrates how the relationship between Captain Picard and Wesley has grown. What seemed to be not too long ago, Captain Picard would refer to Wesley as, “the boy.” Captain Picard was not good with children, and at times, there was extra tension between Captain Picard and Wesley. I like to say this is because Captain Picard is Wesley’s father, and he doesn’t quite know how to deal with that secret. And we must not forget the time that Captain Picard said, “Shut up, Wesley!”

The only time I stood up to my bullying stepfather was about Star Trek: The Next Generation. The show was on and I walked to the kitchen for ice-cream. Returning, I went for the remote, but my stepfather took it first and changed the channel.

I told him that I was watching Star Trek. He replied something snarky like, “You snooze, you loose, kid.”

Where were you when Star Trek: The Next Generation first aired? I can tell you exactly what I was doing, and the impact it had on me, as vividly as if it were today.

I was alone, in my mother’s bedroom, watching the premiere on the spare television, while my mother, sister, and step-dad were in the living room watching something else. I sat on the floor, my legs against my chest, with arms wrapped around my legs, my chin resting on my knees, excitedly anticipating the opening title sequence. To 11-year-old me, this day was the most important day of my life.

When the opening title sequence began, I started to shake with excitement. I was in awe. The visuals for the opening sequence blew my mind. I began to recite the words, alongside Captain Jean-Luc Picard. The words that came out of my mouth were, “Its five-year mission.” But what came out of Captain Picard’s mouth were, “Its continuing mission.” My brain stopped. Out loud, with no one to hear me, I exclaimed, “It’s different! I wonder what else has changed!” I continued to recite the opening dialog. What came out of my mouth was, “To boldly go where no man has gone before!” What came out of Captain Picard’s mouth was, “To boldly go where no one has gone before!” I began to shake even more, and I had a rare burst of strong emotion.

I knew at that very moment that I would love Star Trek: The Next Generation just as much as Star Trek: The Original Series. Then, for the next two hours, as I watched Encounter at Farpoint, I sat completely mesmerized at all the things that were different, and happy to see many things that were true to the first series. Even more amazing to me was that this series had two characters for me to relate to, whereas Star Trek: The Original Series only gave me one character to help me feel less alone, and less alien, in a world full of humans. Star Trek: The Original Series gave me the character of Spock. Star Trek: The Next Generation gave me the characters of Data and Wesley Crusher. I was that child who was ridiculously intelligent, often telling adults what to do, and knowing that I was more intelligent than they were. I was also the child who is overly logical — which can come off as being cold, detached, and calculating — had huge difficultly understanding people and their emotions, issues socializing, and the child struggling to be “human.” As an adult, this still holds true.

A couple of months ago, I asked you lovely readers for suggestions on the best Star Trek episodes to watch with my kids to give them a taste of the universe. You came back with so many suggestions that I made another post, pleading to help whittle it down. Not as much of a response on that one. I guess favorites are favorites. So, I stuck with the list as is and we started watching.

To be honest, I wasn’t very excited to watch The Original Series because the only knowledge I had of the show was in parodies (my favorite is from In Living Color.) I expected camp and silliness, but it’s a good show! (Stop rolling your eyes.)

We’ve gotten through half of the list for the first series, and are really enjoying it. Yeah, the women are treated as second-class officers, but that was the ’60s. The show itself is very well written from the overall plots to the dialogue. I expected the acting to be over the top and ridiculous, but it’s not. Yeah, Kirk is dramatic, but so entertaining (and really hot too.) The subjects tackled are worthy of any serious science fiction short story.

Thanks again for the recommendations. I think I might even miss the first crew when we move on to The Next Generation.

On September 28, 1987, Star Trek returned to our televisions with a brand new series: Star Trek: The Next Generation. To celebrate its 25th anniversary, GeekMom is dedicating this week to a franchise that has been inspiring people for 46 years.

Even though it is the anniversary week for Star Trek: The Next Generation, we have decided to dedicate this week to the entire franchise. The reason for this is because without Star Trek: The Original Series there would not have been the motion pictures, and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Without the huge success of Star Trek: The Next Generation, there would not have been the rest of the television series. Every single series has been responsible for bringing in a new batch of fans, and inspiring generations of people to boldly go.

This week, we will be sharing our love of this series, and discussion every thing from Kirk vs Picard, to debating the best series and movie, to discussing how Star Trek has made a real difference in our lives, reviewing Star Trek merchandise, and sharing our own introductions to this series.

How were you introduced to Star Trek? Why is Star Trek important to you?

Just back from Pi-Con, “The friendliest little convention in New England.” It really was. Both little and friendly. I kept myself quite busy for the weekend selling my family’s TeaPunk line of products in the dealers row, speaking on panels, leading a songwriting workshop, and performing with my band the Subs. My daughter was with me since she’s the artist of TeaPunk and the drummer in my band. There were maybe a handful of younger people there; it’s an adult convention for fans of science fiction and fantasy. She was still happy, since everyone was chatty and nice (and bought her stuff…).

For me, it was great to be around people who like what I like. Total geeks, but in a low-key way. Friday at Pi-Con started off with my daughter leading a fun jam session with percussion. We set up our shop next to great neighbors (The Dragon’s Design and Sunspot Designs) and attended a panel where my GeekmMom t-shirt was applauded (Yay!). The day finally ended with me (minus my daughter) watching a burlesque show. I had never seen one before and it was … OK. I thought it was supposed to be mostly comedy with some strip-tease, but it was strip-tease with some comedy. However, the women were beautiful and voluptuous with gorgeous costumes. My favorite act was Cookie Monster stripping and eating a plate of cookies. Sounds strange, but it was hilarious.

Back in 1978-1979, Douglas Adams was a Script Editor for Doctor Who. One of the scripts that he wrote, Shada, was never completed due to a labor strike and was left unfinished until now. Gareth Roberts, who has written scripts for the current Doctor Who series as well as spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures, has taken what Adams started and finished it in this new novel.

Doctor Who: Shada focuses on the problems caused by The Doctor’s old friend, Professor Chronotis, a fellow Time Lord who has retired to Cambridge University. He plans to live a quiet, unremarkable life, but he’s made a little mistake. He has a copy of The Worshipful and Ancient Law of Gallifrey and he’s carelessly given it to a grad student who’s using it to impress girls.

Philip José Farmer is perhaps best know for his Riverworld series, but his body of work includes nearly 60 novels and hundreds of novellas and short stories. Time’s Last Gift was originally published in 1972, then revised in 1977, and only recently published again for a whole new generation of fans to discover.

The story follows John Gribardsun and three fellow anthropologists as they travel back in time from 2070 A.D. to 12,000 B.C. in order to study primitive man. What they discover is that the impact of their time travel may have greater consequences than any of them could have imagined. This is a hard one to talk about without ruining the story, but it quickly becomes more than a time travel story as we discover Gribardsun is a bigger character in our world history than at first suspected.

Lawrence, Kansas is a great place to be a geek. It’s home of the University of Kansas and the Center for the Study of Science Fiction. Every year since 1979 they’ve handed out the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for the best science-fiction novel of the year, and in 1987, they added the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for the best short science fiction of the year.

These are two pretty prestigious awards for winners, and the campus holds an awards ceremony and the Campbell Conference every July (July 5-8 this year). There are also novel and short story writing workshops lead by some of the best in the industry, so this is a great place to be for the aspiring writer, too. For those who don’t want to register or attend the all day conference, there’s also a massive book signing every year.

Now, I realize not everyone is lucky enough to live in Lawrence or have the financial means for a summer trip to the area. For everyone else, I suggest checking out AboutSF, an educational outreach effort by the Center for the Study of Science Fiction, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and the Science Fiction Research Association. There are interviews, podcasts, and plans for teachers including reading guides and sample projects. The reading guides actually make great summer reading lists for yourself or your kids.

A word of warning: as the title clearly states, this post is full of spoilers and assumes that you have already seen Prometheus!Read on at your peril!

Visually, Ridley Scott’s Prometheus is one of the most carefully-conceived, perfectly-rendered movies I think I’ve ever seen–every detail from the stark, silica-scoured landscape of the moon LV-223 to the vertical takeoff and landing design of the Prometheus spacecraft to the veined spacesuits, self-propelled GPS mapping “pups,” and illuminated helmets of the exploratory team was impeccably engineered. And yet…once my eyes grew accustomed to this new universe and I settled in with its’ story and characters, the film began to crumble at its foundation, until ultimately, Prometheus took on the feel of an over-wrought wedding cake: an initially-elaborate appeal to the senses, but upon examination, insipid and heavy.

This month, EMP is debuting one of its most eye-popping exhibits, Icons of Science Fiction. I have been anticipating it for some time, so I made plans to go to the opening night party — and I wasn’t disappointed. The collection is packed with artifacts and props from some of everyone’s favorite sci-fi movies and television shows. Fans of Star Trek flocked to Uhura’s uniform and Captain Kirk’s chair from the original series.

I was particularly moved by standing so close to Christopher Reeve’s suit from Superman IV, along with the model of the spaceship that brought baby Kal-El to Earth. Other must-see props include Neo’s coat from The Matrix Reloaded, a Dalek from the Doctor Who episode “Remembrance of the Daleks,” an original concept illustration from Ralph McQuarrie, and Yoda’s walking stick. Film props dominate the exhibit, but EMP also pays homage to notable authors who left their marks on the worlds of science fiction. (EMP is also the permanent home of the Science Fiction Hall of Fame.)

EMP Curator Brooks Peck talked to the crowd on opening night about his inspiration for Icons of Science Fiction. He told opening night attendees that they had lost their ways as geeks, asking, “When was the last time you told your bus driver to live long and prosper?” He went on, “It’s time to renew your commitment to science fiction.” His recommended first stop was the Icons of Science Fiction. “If you do this… you’ll help save science fiction, you’ll help save yourselves, and you’ll help save the world.”

After a long life that created great science fiction, fantasy and mystery, author Ray Bradbury died Tuesday night at the age of 91.

Though known to high school English students as the author of Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury wrote many influential novels during his long career, reaching from 1950′s The Martian Chronicles to 2006′s Farewell Summer. His more than 400 short stories have been published in collections and anthologies, and he wrote 21 plays, some based on his stories and novels. In short, he has quite a lengthy list of works — choose one this week and share it with your kids.

Once a frequent guest at conventions, Bradbury stopped attending several years ago due to his age. For fans of Dragon*Con, Bradbury famously remarked in 1986 about the Atlanta Marriott Marquis and its massive swirling atrium, “This hotel is science fiction!” He was also the first recipient of that event’s Julie Award in 1998, awarded for genre-spanning achievements.

Despite the future-looking advances in his writing, Bradbury didn’t always run with technology himself. “I don’t use [a computer],” he told an interviewer in 1990. “I can write faster on a typewriter than you can on a computer. I do 120 words a minute, and you can’t do that on a computer. So, I don’t need anything. That’s plenty fast.”

“The history of science fiction started in the caves 20,000 years ago.”

But about the technology and futures he imagined? In that same interview, he called science fiction “the most important fiction ever invented.”

“People haven’t given it credit,” he went on to say. “Because it has to do with the history of ideas. Of dreaming an idea, birthing an idea, blueprinting an idea, making it into a fact. And then moving on, to the next idea. The history of science fiction started in the caves 20,000 years ago. The ideas on the walls of the cave were problems to be solved. It’s problem solving. Primitive scientific knowledge, primitive dreams, primitive blueprinting: to solve problems.”

Regardless of how the words got to the page, we’re glad they did. We’ll miss Ray Bradbury and his stories, and we’re sure you will too. Tell us in the comments your favorite stories — from seeing him at a convention to reading his books for the first time.